The moment Ren moved, Kitsuchi slammed his hands into the ground.
[Earth Style: Great Heaving Tomb!]
The entire battlefield lurched like the surface of a sea caught in a storm. The soil rose in thick waves, pillars groaning upward, then collapsed again in a rolling quake that threw corpses and rubble into the air. Ren landed on a fragment of stone mid-air, his hair whipping back from the pressure as the ground below came alive.
Every inch of the battlefield moved with Kitsuchi's intent.
Ren dashed forward when the first spike shot out of the ground, then another, then ten more till the entire field was filled with them. The earth itself was hunting him, bending, shaping, folding around him like Kitsuchi's will had sunk deep into its veins.
Ren's foot cracked against the ground, the air thundered as he used the [Thunder Step]. The world blurred for a second but his next step shattered a stone tendril mid-rise, a blur of movement followed by the hiss of air compressing around his feet.
Another column shot from beneath. Ren twisted sideways, his hand snapping down in a sharp arc and a short-range shockwave detonated on contact. The stone didn't break, it imploded, cratering inward with a hollow thud as the compressed chakra ruptured it from within.
Chunks of pulverized rock rained across the field, but the ground reformed instantly. Kitsuchi was still in the center of the field, half-buried in the earth, hands pressing into the soil. His chakra spread through the terrain like a living nervous system.
"Tch." Ren clicked his tongue then he blurred again, barely dodging a massive slab rising like a trapdoor it was as if the earth wanted to bury him alive.
And then came the roar.
Blue fire burst across the horizon as Yugito, now in full Two-Tails form, bounded forward, she was massive, feline and wreathed in flickering azure chakra. Her claws ripped trenches through the ground, scattering molten dirt in her wake.
Ren braced, feeling the pressure of her chakra compress the air. Then she leapt, claws descending.
He crossed his arms, muscles tightening and chakra surging.
The impact cracked the ground, but Ren's counter met her strike perfectly, reversing the momentum and hurling the beast backward several meters. The recoil vibrated through his arms, his bones humming from the force.
Ren exhaled lightly as he muttered, "Weaker than I thought."
Then he moved again.
A streak of motion blurred past a cluster of Iwa-nin as Ren rocketed through, each step breaking the ground beneath him as he used the [Thunder Step] again, chaining into a wide spinning kick.
The air howled as the spinning shockwave shredded through the earthen wall that had risen to block him, scattering the fragments like leaves in a storm.
He landed low, hand to the ground as chakra flooded his palm.
[Earthbreaker Palm].
A tremor pulsed outward, the ground rippling violently. Dozens of Iwa shinobi lost their footing as the terrain collapsed inward, swallowing them whole.
Yugito's roar returned, hotter this time. Blue flames coiled and burst from her mouth. Ren's body flickered forward, weaving through streaks of flame, each step a blur. He appeared under her jaw in an instant.
"Let's test this."
His entire arm burned in a bright yellow fire as he prepared his next attack.
[Blazing Heart Smash].
He slammed both fists upward and a dome of thermal energy blasted outward, hurling Yugito's massive frame off-balance. Her roar turned into a scream of chakra feedback as the flames around her distorted.
Ren skidded backward, smoke trailing from his arms, the ground beneath his feet scorched black. His fists bled slightly from the recoil, but he didn't stop as they would be healed soon enough so he dashed again, chasing the momentum.
Kitsuchi's chakra pulsed from underground as new spikes rose but Ren didn't bother with it. His body moved before his mind caught up, twisting midair, snapping a kick downward launching a compressed wave that followed cleaved through the spikes, slicing them cleanly in half before dissipating in a rolling gust.
He landed in front of Kitsuchi's position.
The old general's eyes widened. "You-"
Too slow.
Ren's fist came down, the air screaming from the pressure behind it.
[Mountain Crusher].
It tore through the layers of barrier Kitsuchi tried to raise, pulverizing it into dust and sending the man crashing backward into his own collapsing terrain.
But the ground didn't stop shaking. Even injured, Kitsuchi's jutsu continued to crawl outward like a living beast.
Ren glanced up. Yugito was already reforming her cloak, blue fire gathering in her mouth again.
His eyes flicked toward Kitsuchi, who was still hammering him with one earth attack after another, pillars, spikes, traps, the whole ground reacting like it had a mind of its own. The man was relentless even while injured, and though Ren could handle it, it was starting to drag on longer than he liked.
He knew one thing clearly, if he wanted to end this quickly, he'd have to neutralize Kitsuchi first.
But that was easier said than done.
Not with that giant blue cat from hell breathing down his neck every time he tried to make a move.
Yugito, in her full Two-Tails form, wasn't giving him even a second of breathing room. Every time he dodged a slab of stone, a paw the size of a tree trunk came crashing in from behind. It was like being trapped between an avalanche and a wildfire.
Ren clicked his tongue and parried another earth spike that shot up right beneath him. The air cracked as he spun midair, landing light as he crouched on a jagged piece of rock sticking out of the ground.
His gaze darted toward Kitsuchi again who was still in the same position, palms buried deep in the ground, his chakra flaring like a furnace. Around him, the Stone shinobi maintained a circular formation, their hands locked in a constant flow of hand signs. Their chakra streams connected to Kitsuchi's body like glowing threads, feeding his jutsu continuously.
Ren narrowed his eyes slightly.
'So that's how he's doing it.'
Kitsuchi wasn't the battery, he was just the main circuit. The real power was coming from those Stone shinobi, each one pouring their chakra into him like an open floodgate. That explained why the battlefield hadn't settled for even a second; no normal man, not even a Kage, could keep a terrain-scale earth jutsu like this going for so long.
It made sense.
And if that was the case… then why bother attacking the mountain, when you could just pull out the trees holding the mud together?
Ren's lips curved faintly, just barely forming a smirk. "Remove the batteries and the phone dies on its own, huh."
Once the thought settled, the decision came instantly.
One heartbeat, and his figure blurred. Thunder cracked beneath his feet as chakra exploded from his soles and the air distorted around him, leaving afterimages where he once stood.
The earth responded immediately. Spikes shot up, traps folded, slabs twisted to close his path, but Ren was already gone from those spots before they could even form. He slipped through gaps that didn't exist a moment ago, cutting through the field like a crimson streak.
Behind him, Yugito's roar split the air, her claws tearing trenches through the earth as she charged after him. Blue fire trailed her movements like rivers of molten energy.
But Ren didn't turn it wasn't her time to be useful, not yet.
He reappeared right in front of one of the Stone nin who was feeding chakra into Kitsuchi's network. The man barely had time to register Ren's presence before Ren's palm connected with his chest.
"Hi!"
A muted thud followed.
"Bye!"
The instant the first Stone shinobi fell, Kitsuchi understood what Ren was doing. His eyes widened for a split second before his hands slammed down with renewed force. The entire ground convulsed like a living thing, and a storm of earthen cones shot up from every direction. It was no longer a coordinated defense, it was a desperate bombardment, chaotic and relentless.
Ren weaved through them like a flicker of light. Every motion was surgical, like a tilt of the head, shift of the shoulder, the smallest rotations timed down to a fraction of a second.
The Fifth Gate's pressure burned through his muscles, but his expression remained calm and detached. Each breath came sharp and steady as if his body and mind had become a single flowing mechanism.
The ground beneath him erupted, and Ren's heel crashed down.
[Earthbreaker Heel]
He collapsed the spike before it could impale him. The resulting shockwave shattered the terrain around him, flinging shards into the air. He spun midair, one knee forward, his leg slicing down through the debris, turning the falling stone into a storm of cutting fragments.
But Kitsuchi wasn't slowing down. From behind, a tidal surge of mud rolled forward, the earth itself flowing like water.
Ren twisted and kicked off the ground, clearing the first wave, but before he could land, a shadow loomed over him.
The sky glowed blue.
Yugito, in her complete Two-Tails form, descended like a comet, both paws igniting in blazing chakra. The ground exploded the moment she landed, her roar shattering the air. The heat from her body rippled like a furnace, her tails carving trails of azure flame through the field.
Ren landed several meters away, skidding across the cracked earth, watching her movements through the haze. She was fast, too fast for her size, but still more predictable than before. Her strikes were wide, destructive, and hard to control once committed.
However the problem was that Yugito and Kitsuchi were performing way too good for someone cooperating for the first time.
He glanced at the battlefield and that was when an idea sparked.
He didn't need to kill the chakra suppliers himself. Yugito could do it for him.
He flexed his hands once, veins pulsing with green light, and then vanished.
Kitsuchi shouted something, but his voice was lost in the chaos. The ground burst again in spikes, pillars, traps yet Ren was already cutting through them, his movements smaller now, more measured. He wasn't trying to close in this time, he was baiting the cat.
Yugito lunged after him, the heat of her chakra burning through the ground with every step. She swung one claw across the field, and Ren ducked just as it passed over him, barely an inch away.
The swipe missed him completely… but the dozen Stone shinobi behind him weren't so lucky.
A shockwave of blue fire consumed them.
But Ren didn't even look back. He was already moving to the next cluster, his body a blur of red and green light. Another wave of earth erupted under his feet, and he vaulted over it with a single, explosive step landing just near another group of chakra suppliers. Yugito roared again and charged after him, her tails whipping through the air like burning chains.
Ren waited until the last possible heartbeat. Then he moved a half-step and vanished in a half-slip.
The tail smashed into the ground where he'd been standing. The resulting blast of heat and chakra wiped out three more Stone shinobi, their chakra streams severed instantly.
The battlefield began to fracture.
Kitsuchi was yelling again, his voice rough with panic and fury. He could see what was happening, the supply line was collapsing. His hands blurred through seals, summoning earthen walls between Ren and the remaining Stone nin.
Massive barriers erupted from the ground, cutting Ren's view and movement. The walls weren't just solid, they pulsed with chakra, forming defensive layers meant to hold against even S-rank blows.
Ren slowed, then exhaled sharply. "Persistent bastard."
He drove his fist into the nearest wall and the entire section imploded inward, dust exploding outward like a cannon blast. Ren stepped through the falling rubble, but another wall rose immediately to replace it. Kitsuchi's chakra surged again, heavy and stubborn.
Ren could feel the strain in the earth. Kitsuchi's chakra threads flickered like dying veins, and the ground's pulse stuttered for the first time.
Yugito, however, was still on him. She launched a burst of blue flame that scorched the whole battlefield, forcing Ren to retreat with a burst of thunder, leaving cracked craters where his feet had been. He reappeared right beneath her chest, chakra building in his arms.
"Sorry kitty," he muttered, and slammed both fists into the air above him.
[Pressure Cannon].
The compressed air burst upward like a bomb, throwing Yugito's massive body slightly off-balance. It wasn't enough to harm her, but it redirected her momentum and she stumbled straight into another section of Stone shinobi.
Her paw crashed down by accident but the shockwave annihilated everything in its radius.
Ren landed lightly a few meters away, his breathing shallow but steady. He watched as the chakra threads from those fallen shinobi faded out one by one. Kitsuchi's control wavered again; the terrain spasmed but didn't respond as smoothly anymore.
He darted forward again, this time right through one of the remaining gaps between barriers. Yugito followed, driven more by instinct and rage and less by the calculation of a Kunoichi.
Ren's movements became tighter, micro-adjustments made at impossible precision, but it was just enough to make Yugito's attacks graze him but obliterate everything else.
Every swing of her tails crushed allies. Every roar burned another section of the field clean.
Kitsuchi's voice cracked as he tried to command the survivors, but the link between them was already fraying. The chakra supply had dropped to less than half; Ren could feel it through the ground beneath him, the pulse of the jutsu was weakening.
He stopped for a moment, dust swirling around him, by the time the dust settled, half of Kitsuchi's chakra line was gone.
He glanced toward Kitsuchi through the haze. The man was still standing in the center, fists trembling, veins bulging from the sheer effort. Yugito's form loomed behind him, wild and blazing, her chakra shaking the air.
Ren straightened, cracking his neck, a faint grin tugging at his lips. "You've got good teamwork," he said quietly, his tone calm and almost amused. "But aren't the cloud bastards having too much of a relaxation in the midst of a battle."
Then, he vanished again and for a second, even with the beastly instincts taking over her, Yugito felt her heart skip.
~~~~~
{Will be ending this soon, the least to fall would be Yugito if nothing unexpected happens.}
{Also, can you think of what Ren tried to do with the [Blazing Heart Smash] if you can accurately predict it, you'd get a mention when all this shit is over.}